Category: Apps

Yes, yes..apps come and apps go. Some maintain their longevity and merely get face-lifts, while others no longer exist. This is one reason we do not rely on apps themselves and focus on the goals of learning. As always, we have connected them to the Competencies.

So here goes with our newly edited list of Top “15” for 2018:

Audio –*Communication Competencies

Voice Record Pro (free!) – Professional voice recorder that uses a visual needle gage to provide feedback on how loud your voice is recording. Possibilities for use might include supporting reading fluency, self-assessment, speeches, radio show or embed in other videos. Save in standard formats or upload to a website. Let the world know what you’re thinking/learning.

Explain Everything 3.0 ($5.49) – “They know when they can teach it.” Communicate learning by screencasting and using an interactive whiteboard to annotate, teach, narrate and animate. New feature – collaboration! Incorporate products from other apps. Export to/from anywhere, making this app incredibly flexible. Integrates with GSuite and OneDrive. So powerful.

Design/Video – *Communication, Creative, Thinking Competencies

Green Screen by Do Ink ($3.99) – Use any green coloured background and turn it into your own TV studio. Tell a story, teach an idea, share your research, be a newscaster. Consider how this might access oral speech, critical thinking, sequencing, design, dramatic skills. Do Ink Animation – create your own animations and add them to your green screen projects or any other project.

Google Drive/Google Docs/Google Sheets/Google Slides/Google Classroom (free) – Still at the top of our “go to” list as the most simplest way to do almost anything. This suite of tools include Docs, Slides, Drawing, Forms, Sheets allowing for writing, collaboration with teams, any time, anywhere, commenting in real-time (*think formative assessment), an accurate speech-to-text synthesizer (imagine having those words magically appear on the page as you speak). The app version has word prediction. Contact your Learning Technologies team for more information. The educational suite is GSuite. (*To apply for GSuite > click FORMS. We do the rest to set up your classes. BONUS! – an authentic place to practice digital citizenship and collaborative communication!)

Design –*Communication, Personal Competencies

i-Nigma (QR Codes) This QR code reader not only sends you to the right place, it saves the locations for future reference. Embed audio, video, text in the codes – use to invite discussion, dialogue, showcase thinking processes or launch a mystery. Stick the QR codes out in the hallway to make the walls talk and teach! What a great way to communicate and extend learning.

ChatterPix Kid (elem); ChatterPix (secondary) (free) – Take a photo, draw a line to represent a mouth and record your voice. Teach a lesson, share a story, sing a song, do a rap. You’re only limited by your imagination. Share it on your class blogs. Stitch a few videos together to make a longer video. Or keep to “shorts”. There’s something to be said for brevity (30 seconds or less).

Design/Draw –*Communication, Creative Competencies

Drawing Pad ($2.79) – Everyone needs an art/sketch app to give possibility to your creative self. Use photo-realistic crayons, markers, paint brushes, coloured pencils, stickers, roller pens. An entire box of tools is at your finger tips. Products are saved in the camera library for export or upload. Use to enhance artistic voice, upload to eportfolios or blogs, presentations or smash with other apps like ChatterPix, Pic Collage Kid and Explain Everything.

Design/Draw –*Communication, Creative Competencies

Paper by FiftyThree (free) – Sketch notes are all the rage. This app gives freedom to design, take notes, create diagrams in detail. A stylus pen is helpful but not necessary. More complex than Drawing Pad.

Design –*Communication, Creative Competencies

FilmmakerPro (free) – Video editor extraordinaire includes video and audio tracks, Chroma Key green screen, text overlay to 360, illustrations, Ken Burns effects. Consider using this for the next phase of film making and communication.

Productivity – *Communication, Personal Competencies

Microsoft Translator (free) – We have many students from many countries. Communication is challenging when there is no one in the room to translate. Translate text or speech (whew!) into other languages. Think of real-time conversation on the device or across devices. Best with single sentences.

Productivity tool – workflow

Documents (free) – My “can’t do without” app for downloading and saving music clips or other files for import to other apps. Now you know my secret for expanding multimedia options. Tell your story with umph!

Video Editor – *Communication, Creative Competencies

Video Slimmer ($3.99) – While there are many in this category, this one is worth the price if you use video a lot and would like to upload the results to a web presence (eg. from camera, iMovie, Adobe Spark, Book Creator …). Shrinks video files while keeping the quality. Simple editing tools include trim, merge multiple videos, rotate, and customise. Saves to camera library.

We’d love to hear about your “Must Have” list. Drop an idea in the comment box.

Is it “technologies amplifies our ideas and changes the way we create”? Or is it the other way around or both in tandem?

Last week our district came together for Pro-D. Aptly named “District Day”, it’s a day dedicated to learning and exploring together – meeting and connecting with friends and colleagues from other schools. Certainly it’s a day of “connectedness” where the buzz of excitement is palpable, exploration and new ideas are plentiful and teachers sharing their passions are the norm. While I must admit that this is an exhausting day but one of the most extremely worthwhile days ever! I always come away rejuvenated and filled with possibilities. It’s a sparkly time.

What do the concepts of social emotional (perseverance, resilience, self regulation), curiosity, exploration and problem solving have in common? They are all intricately woven in the fabric of Applied Design, Skills and Technology. At the 6/7 level, we invited lead teachers on the Thursday to experience Coding Quest. At the K-5 level, ADST is meant to be included in the regular curriculum. Inspired by Ian Landy (principal in Shuswap district) who presented at the CUEBC conference, we put together a number of centers focused on developing the mindset skills in ADST. The twist? – incorporating the core competencies of Personal Awareness, Communication and Critical Thinking. Just to give you a flavour, some of the centers were:

Elenco Snap Circuits (electronics from basics to multi-levels)

Keva planks (understand the dynamics of physics and architectural design)

Why centers? We wanted multiple entry points to include something for everyone (a success story waiting to unfold). Each center is designed for active engagement in both the building/making aspect, as well as revealing self regulation, perseverance, resilience… (Personal Awareness Competency). Reflection during and afterwards is key to explicitly connect the maker mindset and language of the competencies (critical thinking, communication, personal awareness) in “I can…” statements.* Click here for all the center instruction cards and information on setup.

Finally rounding off our list of vetted “must have” TOP 20 APPS for 2017. While these are in no order, the apps can be categorized into two areas – student voice/design/creativity and productivity. Stay tuned for future posts on how you might use some of these apps.

Documents (free) – My “can’t do without” app for downloading and saving music clips or other files for import to other apps. Now you know my secret for expanding multimedia options. Tell your story with umph!

Audio/Visual -*Communication Competencies

Tellestory (free) – video creation using the augmented reality camera. Use the themes or choose your own to write and record your story. Sing in a band, report the news, float in outer space, add special effects and costumes. The app has face tracking to offset the costumes. Save to camera library and share.

Applied Design – *Communication, Critical, Creative Competencies

Scratch Junior (free) – Inspired by MIT’s Scratch, learn how to program an interactive story or game to solve problems or design projects. This is using coding to learn communication skills. Use the graphical programming blocks to snap together to make characters move.

Microsoft Translator (free) – We have many students from many countries. Communication is challenging when there is no one in the room to translate. Translate text or speech (whew!) into other languages. Think of real-time conversation on the device or across devices. Best with single sentences.

Audio –*Communication Competencies

Voice Record Pro (free) – Professional voice recorder that uses visual feedback to show how loud your voice is recording. Possibilities for use might include supporting reading fluency, self-assessment, speeches, radio show or embed in other videos. Save in standard formats.

Audio/Visual –*Communication Competencies

ChatterPix Kid (free) – Take a photo, draw a line to represent a mouth and record your voice. Teach a lesson, share a story, sing a song, do a rap. You’re only limited by your imagination. Share it on your class blogs. Stitch a few videos together to make a longer video. Or keep to “shorts”. There’s something to be said for brevity (30 seconds or less).

Audio/Visual –*Communication Competencies

Tellagami-Edu ($6.99) – Create a custom avatar to share your story, lesson or learning. Includes backgrounds, draw your own or take a background picture. Products can be saved to the camera library. Great for oral language development and speeches, explaining processes (records up to 90 seconds). No in-app purchases needed. There is a free version that saves 30-second videos. (*Hint: use other apps to stitch the ‘shorts’ together.)

Image Editor – *Communication, Creative Competencies

PicMonkeyPhoto Editing Effects ($2.79) – Our favourite web tool is now an app! Use it to resize your images before uploading, and edit using a range of effects. Personalize any image and use in your presentations, photo albums, eportfolios, posters, infographics.

Design/Draw –*Communication, Creative Competencies

Drawing Pad ($2.79) – Everyone needs an art/sketch app to give possibility to your creative self. Use photo-realistic crayons, markers, paint brushes, coloured pencils, stickers, roller pens. An entire box of tools is at your finger tips. Products are saved in the camera library for export or upload. Use to enhance artistic voice, upload to eportfolios or blogs, presentations or smash with other apps like ChatterPix, Pic Collage Kid and WeeMoji.

Design/Draw –*Communication, Creative Competencies

Paper by FiftyThree (free) – Sketch notes are all the rage now. This app gives freedom to design, take notes, create diagrams in detail. A stylus pen is helpful but not necessary. More complex than Drawing Pad.

Video – *Communication, Creative Competencies

Adobe Spark Video (free) – Create stunning videos with voice, music and images. Add cinematographic motion and share your product. Saves to camera library for easy export. As if this wasn’t enough, use this to illustrate ‘work flow’ in organization. *Requires a login account.

Design/Video – *Communication, Creative, Thinking Competencies

Green Screen by Do Ink ($3.99) – Use any green coloured background and turn it into your own TV studio. Tell a story, teach an idea, share your research, be a newscaster and include an interactive weather map or video behind you. Consider how this might access oral speech, critical thinking, sequencing, design, dramatic skills.

Design/Video – *Communication, Creative, Thinking Competencies

Explain Everything 3.0 ($5.49) – “They know when they can teach it.” Communicate learning by screencasting and using an interactive whiteboard to annotate, teach, narrate and animate. New feature – collaboration! Incorporate products from other apps. Export to/from anywhere, making this app incredibly flexible.

Design – *Communication, Creative, Thinking, Personal Competencies

Book Creator ($6.99) – Create stunning ebooks that can be saved, uploaded, or saved as pdf. Incorporate images, video, audio, music, text. Import your ChatterPix, Tellagami, or Explain Everything files. Turn the pages like a book and see the magic unfold before you. A great tool for a portfolio presentation.

Productivity tool – workflow

Compressor (free) – While using the video camera on an iPad is great, what happens if you want to upload the results to a blog, eportfolio or other web presence? iPads are notorious for huge file sizes. This app compresses a video file size using a target slider – what could be easier? Saves to camera library ready for you to upload to any other site.

Video Editor – *Communication, Creative Competencies

Video Slimmer ($3.99) – While there are many in this category, this one is worth the price if you use video a lot and would like to upload the results to a web presence (eg. from camera, iMovie, Adobe Spark, Book Creator …). Shrinks video files while keeping the quality. Simple editing tools include trim, merge multiple videos, rotate, and customise. Saves to camera library.

Google Drive (free) – Still at the top of our “go to” list. This suite of tools include Docs, Slides, Drawing, Forms, Sheets allowing for writing, collaboration with teams any time, anywhere, commenting in real-time (*think formative assessment), an accurate speech-to-text synthesizer (imagine having those words magically appear on the page as you speak). The app version has word prediction. Contact your Learning Technologies team for more information. The educational suite is G Suite. (*To apply for a GSuite account > click FORMS. We do the rest to set up your classes. An authentic place to practice digital citizenship and collaborative communication!)

We’d love to hear about your “Must Have” list. Drop an idea in the comment box.